Reply to Bernese Dogs? Any owners here that can share any tips or thoughts on them?

Forum Index » Pets

Reply to "Bernese Dogs? Any owners here that can share any tips or thoughts on them?"

Subject:

Emoticons





More smilies

Text Color: Font: Close Marks

[quote=Anonymous]We had a Bernese for 10 years - raised her from about 10 weeks old until she died about two years ago.  One of the best dog ever (and I say that as a person who has probably owned about 6 or 7 dogs over the years).  Here are my pros and cons:

[u]Pros:[/u]
Incredibly loyal:   They are not prone to wandering/running off and prefer to stay close to their family.  
Highly trainable and thrive on praise:   They are very eager to please and are easy to train.  Ours graduated at the top of her puppy obedience class :)
Awesome with kids:  They're very tolerant of kids and gentle with the little ones.  Our Bernese loved to "watch over" our kids when they were babies/toddlers -- she would lay at the foot of their crib or bed (on the floor) anytime they napped so that she would be there when they woke up.  As they grew older, she would sleep just outside their bedroom doors.
Good watchdogs:  They are very alert to strangers, meaning that they will give a serious chest-rattling bark whenever someone they don't know comes to the door.  There will be no doubt from the person on the other side of the door that you have a big ass dog in the house (which in our case helped deter what could have been a home invasion/burglary).
All around sweet and loving personality:  They are like 130lb. lap dogs; they love to snuggle and have a very sweet disposition.  Ours seemed to always have a goofy "smile" on her face and just loved to be around us.

[u]Cons:[/u]
Short life span:  Our Bernese was surprisingly long-lived at 10 years old.  Average life span is 7-8 years.
Food and vet bills can be expensive:  A big dog requires a lot of food and if yours has any health issues (which unfortunately many Bernese do), vet bills/ongoing meds can be significant.

We seriously considered getting another Bernese after ours passed away but as fate would have it, we ended up rescuing a two year old St. Bernard (can you tell we're big dog people?) who's a more mellow version of our beloved Bernese :)
[/quote]

Options

	Disable HTML in this message
	Disable BB Code in this message
	Disable smilies in this message

Review message

Search Recent Topics Hottest Topics